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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24898888">How we became us</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ao3_Vi/pseuds/Ao3_Vi'>Ao3_Vi</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Hunter X Hunter</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Camaraderie, Character Development, Concern for well being, Gen, Genei Ryodan - Freeform, I don't know what I'm doing, Loyalty, Not that canon compliant but I'm trying to, Original Character-centric, Phantom Rouge, Pre-Canon, Tags Are Hard, canon spoilers, errr</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-06-24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-08-30</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-04 02:20:46</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Major Character Death</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>15,059</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24898888</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ao3_Vi/pseuds/Ao3_Vi</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Word of Advice: This story includes potential spoilers on the Anime related movie Phantom Rouge. I highly recommend to watch that one before reading this story. Thank you :)</p><p>Summary: When the Phantom Troupe makes their appearance in the Anime, they are already a well-rehearsed team, and we know how the Phantom Troupe was formed, but what happens before that and in between when the Troupe appears for the York New auction?</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>41</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>13</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Prologue</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>So, here it is, my first fanfiction on Hunter x Hunter, which doesn't fall into the category of drabble :D yay!!</p><p>The first couple chapters are done, but it's still a WIP, so I'll go with a weekly update rhythm until it's finished.</p><p>There are mainly two reasons that caused this fanfiction (of which the first one actually accounts for 90%).<br/>1) Weird daydreams of the Troupe (and let's be honest, daydreams in general)<br/>2) That one scene where Silva and Chrollo face of in Meteor city. It's like only 5-10 seconds screentime, but I wanted to work that in.</p><p>I hope you enjoy and thank you for being here :3</p><p>Apologies for the short intro, the next chapter will be longer, this one is rather a teaser on what's to come :)</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The small pocket watch weighed heavy in his hand. The material of which the watch was made was not heavy – it was the memory it held. <br/>He flipped open the lid, which long ago had lost its metallic sheen. The clock hand had resigned its duty, time was standing still and the memories were as present as if it had been yesterday. He closed his eyes and found himself back in Meteor city. The streets were dusted golden with a fine layer of sand, blown in from the nearby desert. Between the ruins, which the inhabitants lovingly referred to as houses, they had span colorful rags and drapery, everything that could provide some kind of shade to the people. Someone had set up a stall, not to sell, but to trade goods - clothes, pots, broken devices - a consortium of everything that other people had once deemed useless and thrown away. Just like the people who lived here. Deemed useless by the world, discarded by the society, but accepted here in Meteor city and calling it their home. He could still remember how he had ran through the streets, eager to find new treasures, always competing with the other teens on who brought forth the best things. </p>
<p>One day he had been on another of these treasure hunts and had found them. Two scrawny persons, a boy and a girl. The boy must have been his age and he firmly held the much younger girls hand. Siblings.<br/>Chrollo had stared at him. It was not an uncommon event that people came here. They came and went, just like the days passed, bringing in their stories and on leaving taking with them their memories. This one had something fascinating, though. He stared back without hesitation, his gaze strong, yet somehow broken, a tint of hurt pride. The clothes they both had on, had been of fine cut and quality once, now they showed the signs of a long journey, dirt staining them. The girl pulled at the boy’s arm and wanted to know what was up and the boy explained, picturing the scenery with words for her. She smiled and let her useless eyes wander as if she was inwardly reproducing what had been described. They moved up closer to Chrollo and the boy spoke up. <br/>“We are looking for a place to stay and heard of Meteor City, so we came here in hopes of finding what we search”. <br/>Chrollo nodded “We accept everything and everyone. Welcome to Meteor”. </p>
<p>Month had passed since then and they had become friends, had grown up. They had made friends with Machi and Franklin. Later on came Phinks and Feitan as well as Uvogin, Pakunoda and the youngster Shalnark. Chrollo had also learned about the past of the siblings. They had lived in Wisteria, a city filled with rich and eccentric people. Only richness and the deemed perfection it could buy counted there, if you fell out of the scope, if you dared so much as not to be the best, be the most beautiful, had the latest things and of course a body to match all this, then you were regarded as worse than a delinquent. <br/>His sister had lost her eyesight during an unwanted cosmetic surgery and got kicked out of their parents’ house after the doctors weren’t able to restore it. They had no use for defective people and he had drawn the line, choosing his sister over pretended love and family life. The conglomerate group members in Meteor had all confirmed his decision. They all had their own packages to carry and stories to tell, coping with and bonding over them with each other, effectively making them more perfect in a human way than the people in Wisteria could ever wish for.</p>
<p>Slowly the familiar images of Meteor city disappeared and Chrollo was back in his apartment in the Heaven’s arena, the pocket watch still in his hands, warm from being grasped that long. Twelve numbers, one for each of his gathered members. The batteries had long died and time was standing still, at least for that little pocket watch. No time in the world would make him forget what had transpired, what had shaped him. He closed the lid, pocketed the watch and left his apartment.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. The Spider</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Here's the first real chapter of the story, yay :)</p><p>I hope you enjoy and have fun reading &lt;3</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Machi stirred her coffee, letting her eyes wander over the crowded place. The city hall’s clock rang 3 p.m., it was unusual for Chrollo to not be perfectly on time. All around the place were artists, trying to entertain the crowds and aiming to gain a bit of profit. One of the artists was a puppeteer.<br/>
It reminded her of Retz and how she, Machi, had developed her Nen skill. Not long after Retz and her brother Omokage had come to Meteor City, they had decided to try and figure out a way on how Retz could maneuver better within the city. With all the rubble lying around, it was nearly impossible for her to take a stroll on her own, even with aid of a stick to check the grounds.<br/>
The search for possibilities had also led them to the Elder of Meteor City and he had agreed to help out, teaching Retz the concept of Nen, which back then had only been but a rumor to the group. With the help of Nen she would perhaps identify a useful skill to aid her. The training had took quite some time, but in the end she had mastered it. </p><p>“Oni-sama, look what I can do now” she said and beamed at her brother. She coated her hands in Ren and slowly let her Hatsu seep out. It formed silks, interlacing into thin silver-refulgent spiderwebs on the ground, copying the edges, potholes, walls in its shape, wafting over it like soft waves. On raising her hands a bit higher, the web of silks drifted in the air, expanding the radius. She then described the exact positions of the obstacles covered in her web. She saw through her Hatsu, just like En would. Her brother had wept, it was so beautiful and his little darling sister could become independent now, she could go wherever she wanted and she would not need to rely on him anymore, she was free, he was….not needed anymore, after all this time together. He felt as if the whole group had excluded him on that day in being so happy for Retz.</p><p>Days and Month had passed and Retz skill continued to improve, her radius increasing. She started to take strolls, occasionally also outside of Meteor city, enjoying her new freedom. Until that fateful day.<br/>
The morning air was crisp, the sun rays slowly bringing wamth to Meteor city. Retz had given her brother a kiss on the cheek and announced she would be back later on. He had mumbled his goodbyes and had turned around again, continuing to doze. Not being needed had his advantages he came to realize, but still the reality gnawed hard at Omokage, his darling little Retz was independent. She had found a new purpose in her life, he himself on the other, had been robbed of his purpose. He had been her eyes and her light and now that she had it back, he was left in the dark, a figure hidden in heavy shadows, living true to his name. He longed for a time in which he could bathe in the light again.<br/>
Retz, in the meantime, had made her way just outside of the city grounds, digging her feet into the warm sand. The wind carried the grains around her feet, tickling her. She felt free, when she walked around here. Despite her webs, she enjoyed that the dunes offered close to no obstacles and that she could roam around. She missed her brother, though. They had been together ever since she could remember, their time together rapidly increasing after she had lost her eyesight and they had run away. The last couple weeks he had become detached, had often wandered off alone, had been silent and in his own mind. She must have been a burden on him all this time, she thought and now that she was able to walk around on her own again, he started to regain his freedom, a freedom which may include only him, just as she had when exploring the surroundings on her own. This was of course fine and well, but still she felt little tears pricking her eyes. She angrily wiped them away, not wanting to return to town red-eyed, when she heard voices and faced into their direction. Expanding her web she made her way towards them, covering them in it to see their forms. Through her Nen she felt two persons, their own Ren flaring up. Clearly they had become angry, but why, Retz thought to herself.<br/>
“So, you’re that girl, huh? Don’t make me laugh, this is too easy. Your pathetic Hatsu won’t help you in this fight. We have business to do, so let’s make this quick” Zigg Zoldyck said.<br/>
In only the blink of an eye her spiderwebs were torn apart, fading into nothingness, a Benz knife the catalyst to the other world for her.</p><p>…</p><p>“Retz?” Omokage called out, walking around Meteor. She had been out since hours and he started to become worried.<br/>
“Retz? Answer me, if you can hear me”.<br/>
A large blond man approached him, his hair so light, it nearly appeared as white. A smaller man was walking some steps behind him.<br/>
“Retz, with the blond hair and around this height? So you are the client, I assume?” Silva said, indicating the height of said girl with his hand.<br/>
“If this is her, it was her now, the job is done from our side and she will never be able to use Nen again, as was requested. Payment goes to the transmitted account number” said Zigg, not halting in his movements at all.<br/>
Omokage needed a moment to process what was just transmitted to him. The smaller man had used past tense, ‘it was her now’, did that mean his little Retz….gone?<br/>
“Dead?” he stammered, shaking on his feet.<br/>
“As dead as a doornail” confirmed Zigg.<br/>
They were supposed to take her Nen, to make her dependent on him again, to…. to be with him…now she was dead, gone forever? Funneling all his sadness and pain into his fists, he attacked Zigg, a heavy fight breaking lose. He did not know where he pulled of the strength to go against a Nen fighter, a skilled assassin even, but for all he knew, he did not care, bare instinct making him move. If he died in this fight, he would die in peace, he had nothing to lose.</p><p>Chrollo darted in between Silva and Omokage, halting their movements. The latter was badly wounded and breathing heavily, the initial one ready to finish it then and there. Somewhere off was the unmoving figure of Zigg Zoldyck, a visual statement of revenge for Retz. An eye for an eye, blood for blood. Silva and Chrollo exchanged gazes, both ready to attack, to defend themselves and to defend what they perceived their own. Moments, which felt like eternity passed, until Silva’s pager rang, a low pinging which resonated into the otherwise dead-silent surrounding. This meant that a new job was due. As for the current one, you could well call it cancelled with what had transpired. Not ready to put his life on the line for a cancelled job, Silva retreated, striking a silent, mutual agreement with Chrollo. Both the Zoldyck family and Meteor had lost enough already today.</p><p>Chrollo was standing in front of his friends. Machi, Pakunoda, Feitan, Franklin, Uvogin and Nobunaga. They all had been shocked to learn what had happened to Retz, but were still unbeknown of the treason which had occurred in their very own ranks. Omokage hadn’t been addressable ever since the incident and was still recovering from his wounds, of which the inner ones would even take much longer to heal.<br/>
Chrollo then faced the group. “We lost not only someone from Meteor City, we lost a friend. They all know what happens if you take something away from us. The job was issued by someone and was accepted by the Zoldycks. We will figure out who issued it and take our revenge and for that, in memory of Retz, I announce the Spider! Let this group become indestructible, a living memory of the very core and essence of Meteor City. We accept everything and everyone, but never take something from us”.</p><p>
  <cite>„I am the head of the Spider, you are the legs, natural law dictates that the legs must follow wherever the head goes. But this is just a chain of command. It doesn’t apply to my life or death. If I happen to die, one of you can replace me. There may come a time when a leg has more importance than the head. Make the right call. My orders have priority, however my life and my death have not. So, what’s key is the survival of the whole, not the individual.”<cite> [Quote from the original series, I take no claims on that]</cite></cite>
</p><p>Machi was disrupted in her thought pattern, when Chrollo had knocked on the table softly. He laid the pocket watch on the table. The clock hand was showing 3 p.m., same as her number within the Spider. She put her hand on the pocket watch and nodded to Chrollo. She had developed her In-Strings as a memento of Retz and she would use them to weave her own web, to bring down everyone who threatened to destroy the Spider.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I will leave some hugs for you readers, should one be required :/ &lt;3<br/>"hugs"</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. The watch</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>From now on the chapters will be completely in the past of the Spiders to give you a glimpse of their growing up process :)</p><p>I hope you enjoy this chapter and since the WIP is currently going well, I might upload the next chapter a bit earlier &lt;3</p><p>The chapter plan's mostly written down, but if you would like to have some scene or action integrated (errr, if asking for "clothless fluffyness", well if you should insist, then I would write it, but you might regret it *is terrible at writing it*) but apart from that, I would like to thank you for your support in reading the story by offering to integrate your wishes &lt;3</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>With the Spider being formed, they decided it was time to turn their back on Meteor city. They assumed they would not find what they were looking for here. Omokage, though addressable again, was still lost in his own world.<br/>
Shalnark and Phinks had sat down next to the make-shift bed some time ago, on which Omokage was currently resting in. Sort of as a silent company. They had placed some wet towel onto Omokage’s forehead some time ago and Shal now removed it to wring it out and to place it again onto the patient’s forehead with fresh, wet coolness. The summers in Meteor city were hot and bearing on the mind. Both Shalnark and Phinks thought Omokage was getting into some sort of heat-delirium when he began speaking fast about how he never wanted that, that all was his fault. He crunched his bed sheets in his fists, wrinkling it as if in agony.<br/>
“Calm, Omokage, no one wanted that. What happened was a tragedy and we can only live to value the memory” murmured Shalnark in a calming manner, unsure of what to do really in such a situation other than to try to provide some reassurance. 
Suddenly with a vengeance, Omokage rose into sitting position, grabbing Shalnark’s shoulders, his nails digging somewhat into the flesh and shouted “Tragedy, tragedy, it’s not tragedy, it’s more than that. I betrayed her, lost her, only due to my selfishness”. 

His face was contorted, his eyes so widened and manic, Shalnark had to gulp at the sight and his sudden outburst. Phinks tried to pry open the hold Omokage had on Shalnark, but with little success. This right now was not the Omokage they had known, it was a broken man, but who could blame him. He had lost a precious part of his life, if not the most precious and felt ridden with guilt.<br/>
“None of us betrayed her, we all lost her. We’re in this with you” tried to reassure Phinks now as well.<br/>
“They betrayed me, not only them, but all those in my hometown, all born too rich to care, all born too selfish” mumbled Omokage, drifting back into his own mind after his outburst, slowly letting go of Shalnark only to slump down onto the bedsheets.</p><p>“Wisteria, hm….you know, we’ll be leaving Meteor city soon. We formed the Spider, we will fight for our vengeance. We’ll fight for you. We would like you to come along with us. We don’t want to leave you alone.” Shalnark said more to himself, unsure whether the person in front of him would still listen.<br/>
“Then just go and leave me be. Revenge needs to be given, everyone needs their punishment. Bring me Chrollo” came the earnest answer from Omokage. For a moment it appeared as if he was back to his normal self, his eyes were focused on his two companions and the statement had been uttered in a clear voice.</p><p>***</p><p>The called upon person stepped into the small space, careful not to hit his head on the low doorframe. Light and heat poured in through all the little cracks within the wooden wall, giving the interior a damp atmosphere.<br/>
“Shalnark and Phinks mentioned, that you called for me? How are you feeling?” he asked and took a seat next to Omokage.<br/>
“When are you leaving the city? I keep to my statement that I will remain here, where you will find me when needed.” said Omokage absently.<br/>
“I don’t like your decision, but I’m going to accept it. We’re likely leaving tomorrow, we were trying to get the Elders to teach us Nen, but to no avail so far, so waiting longer will be pointless.”<br/>
“Is it too complex?”<br/>
“I guess not, but they openly refuse to teach us. They say we’re too wayward, too unpredictable to learn it. I say they are scared of their position, afraid we could take them on, that we would become stronger than them” said Chrollo, brushing off invisible dust from his trousers.<br/>
“Ah, is that so.”<br/>
Silence passed between them for a while.<br/>
Omokage reached over to a shabby linen sack, retrieving a metallic object.<br/>
“This here belonged to Retz, you may need it, if you plan to go to Wisteria. I feel I don’t deserve to carry it anymore. Keep it safe for me and one day pay me the deserved price and pass judgement on anyone involved in the misery. If I say anyone, I mean it!” With clouded eyes, which had once carried pride, but now showed the mania of a broken man torn with self-hatred, Omokage handed Chrollo the object.<br/>
The latter took it and regarded the metallic pocket watch, carrying the emblem of Wisteria, engraved in the cover of the watch along with their family name. He then placed his hand, holding the watch over his heart, a silent vow.<br/>
“Thank you, I will safe-guard it. With this I guess it will be good-bye then, my friend.”<br/>
“Yes, until we meet again, I’m sure we will, one way or another”.<br/>
With this Chrollo nodded his head in goodbye, stood up and left the hut.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Arriving in York New</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Thank you so much for sticking to this story and as always, enjoy reading &lt;3</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Chrollo scanned the newspaper. When he had gotten his hands on it, it was already a month old but it did not matter to him. The page he had opened showed a battle ring of an arena, in the center of it stood a triumphant man, grinning into the camera. The title read ‘Challenge accepted and completed’ and the article was about how that man had decrowned the previous champion, making him the new floormaster. Apparently these kinds of events held big interest, for in the background of the picture, the arena’s grandstand was packed with people celebrating and the info on the new floormaster had even made it into the international newspapers. Chrollo was reading it over and over again, his mind rattering, forming a plan and decided that this was the place to go. A fighting tower packed with beasts must have at least one, if not more people, who were willing to teach them Nen.</p>
<p>***</p>
<p>By some luck and a bit of bribery, they had set off to York New, squeezed in between all the cargo in the belly of the airship. For the upper passenger seats neither of them had money, but for them it did not matter, luxury was unknown to them and not valued. They would reach their destination and this was all they wanted.</p>
<p>On leaving the airport and arriving in the city, their mouths gaped open. Surrounding them were fine buildings, dressy people, goods of all varieties and products they had never before set their eyes on or weren’t even aware of their very existence. It was a wondrous place, filled with new experiences round every corner. They had seen pictures of towns within the newspapers and books, but being in such a place was something completely different. Various smells were drifting into their noses, not anything like in Meteor city, where the stench of rotten goods overtook everything, no it was an abundance of nice smells. It smelled like freshly cooked food in one corner, like flower fields in another, a subtle smell of fresh vegetable in the sun coming from a market, another street brought the rich smell of baked bread. It smelled clean - this city was clean and nice.<br/>The gazes which they received, were not though. The group did not fit in that picture, they were worn down, bringing with them the smell of Meteor, the stench clinging to them like a second skin, irritating the passerby.<br/>Chrollo observed the situation. He had decided to bring his group to this place, despite him being younger than some of them he had taken the leadership of the Spider and he held the full responsibility for his decision. He had to make sure that his group survived in this place here and he knew the journey and continued gazes were chipping away from their energy. They were tired, hungry and in dire need to find both nourishment and a place to rest. Unless in Meteor city, these people here had made it very clear they would only accept money for their goods when they had approached them about their food goods and suggested to trade. Money which they did not have. The Spider would not steal from them, these people also depended on a functioning trade system, if they took from them, they had to offer something in return. This was their early understanding. Nevertheless, their stomachs told another story. They would soon need to find some Store which would trade against something they could offer and not for money, otherwise they’d have to resolve to other means.<br/>Walking some more they came across a restaurant and watched a man coming out of the restaurant’s backdoor, carrying a large tray, filled with food. He was approaching the trash can, when they walked over there. </p>
<p>It was Franklin who spoke up “Sir, do you plan to throw this out?”</p>
<p>“Yes, it’s left over food and some stock which exceeded the best-before date unfortunately. I can’t sell that to my customers anymore”.</p>
<p>“Instead of throwing it out, can you give it to us?” asked Chrollo, shifting closer now as well.</p>
<p>The chef shook his head “I can’t give it to you. If I cannot sell it anymore, I’m also not allowed to give it away”</p>
<p>“But you would throw it away, so it’s not of any use for you anymore. Give it to us, please” Pakunoda added.</p>
<p>“Legally I’m not allowed to. I have to throw it away” declined the chef again, sighing sadly.</p>
<p>“You could just throw it away into our bag here instead of the trash can” Franklin reasoned on which the chef shook his head again. “I can’t”.</p>
<p>Uvogin fumed “You’d throw it away, it’s no use for you anymore, for us it is, we don’t f****** care about the laws and we won’t certainly tell on you. We’ve got better things to do. Besides you’re not gonna stand here all day, so instead of us picking it out of the can later you may as well throw it in the bag as Franklin mentioned. Don’t be a dick”.</p>
<p>The chef went silent, pondering about it. Then without a further comment, he went back into the restaurant with his tray of food only to return moments later, with even more food on the tray. Fresh food, some vegetables, some fruits, placing it into the hands of the group. It was enough food to nourish them all for the day.<br/>“You’re from Meteor city, right? You have that specific aura around you. My wife… some twenty years ago she’s also lived there and I know the struggle. The fresh food I can legally hand out, but officially I can’t give you the expired food, but as you said, you don’t care and you’re right, it’s better not to waste anything, I should know this best and I’m sorry” sighed the chef, dropping his head apologetically and added “Take good care in York New”.</p>
<p>The troupe members bowed to him, thanking him with more than words. Kinsman and kinswoman of former inhabitants of Meteor were their friends and kinsman as well and they would not forget his kindness.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Ummm, to be honest I'm not actually sure if I am correct about the location of the Heaven's Arena. Out of convenience I placed it into York New. Sorry, if this is non-canon.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Heaven and Hell</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Hello dears,</p><p>sorry this is a little delayed, the weekend was a bit busy. I hope you enjoy :)</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>For the night’s rest, the troupe had found a quarter in the outer areas of York New. Those areas which still heavily showed the signs of a war. Even so the fights were long passed, economically seen it had not been reasonable to either restore the area to its former glow or to dismantle the buildings completely. They just stood there as a silent reminder and judge of what had transpired between and above them. No one would mind the Troupe being there, for them to find a regular resting place in these buildings.</p><p>Chrollo rose early this morning and was walking outside to catch the first sunrays. He had been in a light slumber the whole night, thinking over their possibilities and actions for the next days and coming weeks. Where would life take them? Had he been a bit blind for reality, blended by his ideas? Would they find someone to learn Nen from? Now was not the time to show weakness, he had to remain level-headed and guide his companions, if he failed to trust in his decisions, the whole group would crumble. He wondered silently and retrieved the small watch from out his vest pocket, staring at it as if it would hold all his desired answers. The clock hand ticked, a steady rhythm like a beating heart, softly vibrating with each new second, but quite obviously it did not speak words and could not provide further clarity on all the questions rummaging around in Chrollo’s head.</p><p>“Nice watch, where you found?” a voice suddenly uttered behind Chrollo. Soon after the small figure of Feitan appeared next to him. It was no wonder he was up early as well, he never slept much. Initially due to his past, now out of habit.</p><p>“It belonged to Retz originally and was passed to me by Omokage as some sort of temporary memento. Supposedly it is needed to reach Wisteria, but he issued no further details on that”.</p><p>“You no have to do alone, no bear burden alone, we all here. 12 people nice, one clock number each” mused Feitan.</p><p>“Feitan, this is indeed a splendid idea, as soon as possible we will recruit new comrades until we’re a full 12.”</p><p>“Plus one, you be vessel, who keeps all together. Thirteen is good number” muttered Feitan, already moving back in to wake the others. He did not want to wait until they woke up on their own, he was up and bored so they should get up too.<br/>And that was how each of the current members had picked their favorite number to represent one hour on the clock, each a guard-keeper of the shared time and memory.</p><p>With their stomachs still full from yesterday’s feast in honor of the chef, they made their way to the Heaven’s arena. Neither of them had set eyes on such a large building before and each of them wondered on how long it would take them to find some suitable Nen fighter within all these floors.  <br/>To facilitate the search, they decided to split up in groups of two and divided the floors they would check out.<br/>Chrollo teamed up with Shalnark, whereas Uvogin paired with Nobunaga. Machi, Pakunoda and Franklin formed one team of three and Feitan and Phinks formed the last team. With this they set out, to return and report back in the lobby 2 hours later.</p><p>***</p><p>Phinks and Feitan had been assigned the floors 100 and 110 and were now walking around the corridors, a bit aimless on how to start. <br/>“We could start banging on some of the doors to see who’s gonna open” suggested Phinks to which Feitan shrugged “We no know who’s in anyway, most rooms perhaps empty”.</p><p>“But just walking around here is pointless in my opinion” nagged Phinks.</p><p>“Fine, we knock” sighed Feitan, giving in to Phinks and knocked on a first door, soon followed by several knocks to other doors.</p><p>As assumed, most doors remained closed and not even a rumbling behind them could be perceived, but then finally they met someone. He was clothed in a black-green robe, his ashen hair a stark contrast to his clothing. He set his slanted eyes on the figures of Feitan and Phinks, monitoring them from head to toe and back up before asking what they wanted.</p><p>“You know Nen?” asked the smaller one bluntly.</p><p>“Depends” Sadaso countered, his lips moving into a sly smile.</p><p>“I assume it comes with a price? Name it” Phinks added.</p><p>Sadaso eyed the two again for a while, pondering on his response.<br/>“I will teach it to only one of you, the smaller one and yes, it comes with a price”</p><p>“Name it” enunciated Feitan.</p><p>Sadaso raised his cloth cladded arms, his hands hidden underneath all the fabric. “Let’s take it slow, let’s discuss it inside”<br/>Phinks moved into the doorframe, pushing Sadaso a bit inside his room, this guy was certainly not to his liking. “Careful there, I’m not leaving my bud. You can teach it to us both, right? But we need a price to think about it. How much Jenny will it cost us?”<br/>Sadaso pushed Phinks back into the corridor with a small Nen blast, making him cough on hitting the wall. Feitan hissed and was almost immediately moving in front of Phinks as barrier between him and Sadaso and shifted into attack position. Sadaso remained calm, not irritated by it in any case. The sly smile returned to his face <br/>“Well, that must have hurt, so take that as a lesson not to play big when talking to a Nen-user. You don’t look like you have the amount of money to pay and you don’t look like a worthy opponent to win the rights of learning Nen in an arena fight. But I am willing to provide special conditions, we will discuss it inside” on that note he motioned Feitan inside.<br/>Feitan narrowed his eyes. This guy was irritating, he thought and he had a weird feeling about his offer. But he clearly was able to use Nen and he was willing to teach it, despite that he would only teach Feitan. They had made a promise to Danchou to find people who would teach them Nen and maybe this was their best bet, Feitan thought, biting his lip. The Spider needed Nen fighters to complete their goal. With new found determination Feitan walked into the room and Phinks, still crouched on the floor, could only call his name to try and stop his friend, but it was in vain, the door closed, behind Sadaso and Feitan.<br/>Phinks remained in front of the door some more minutes, unsure on what to do, but when he neither heard signs of fighting nor shouting, he decided that perhaps his hunch had been misplaced and started to continue his search to find someone who could teach him Nen as well.</p><p>Two hours later, the group members rejoined in the Lobby, but Feitan was still missing. Another 15 minutes passed and still no sign of him. Phinks cursed, he had had a bad feeling about this ash-haired dude and he should have tried harder to stop Feitan from going into that room. He cursed himself. He then told the whole line of events to the Troupe and they shared his bad feeling, immediately setting off to floor 100 where Sadaso’s room was. They only had emerged from the elevator when they found their missing member. <br/>Feitan was stabilizing himself with one hand against the wall, slowly making his way towards the elevator, arms scratched, clothes slightly torn and he was limping, his eyes burning with unrivaled fury. They all ran over to him, asking what happened, fuzzing over him.<br/>“He made pain, he say it necessary to teach Nen, he liar, he forced, he dead.” the small black-clothed figure grumbled.</p><p>The room Sadaso had lived in was emitting trails of grey, heavy smoke, rapidly increasing in its amount and density. Feitan, the little pyromaniac who he was, must have used his special mixtures to set fire to the room and the darkness of the smoke and choking smell indicated that some furniture or plastic must be burning. Soon they would receive company, the fire alarms already flaring up. Chrollo decided to split the group to create some distraction in case they would be followed and they all hurried outside of the building as fast as possible, luckily without any further interference.</p><p>Phinks, ridden with guilt, didn’t leave his friend’s side that day, doing his best to stabilize him during their way back. Knowing that Sadaso had received his punishment was no major remedy and he wished there was more he could do.</p>
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<a name="section0006"><h2>6. You're welcome</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Hello dear readers,</p><p>I'm sorry this arrived so late on the weekend. Enjoy and thank you for reading :)</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>In consideration for Feitan’s injury the Troupe decided to search for a closer hideout instead of walking all the way back to their initial one. They had seen some more abandoned places around the town on their way to the Heaven’s arena and they then decided for some sort of old garage in the backyard of a similarly run down house complex.</p><p>When they walked into the backyard they figured it might as well be a dump, rather than a backyard. The place reminded them of their hometown, with all kinds of goods and chattels piling up everywhere. What they found odd though, was that most of these things looked rather new. On most of them there wasn’t any sort of dent or rusty areas and they appeared as new as the things they had marveled at in the shopping windows in the town center only yesterday. Yet, all these things seemed to have one thing in common. They all carried the word ‘Welcome’ in some manner. Sometimes it were doormats or vases, sometimes plastic flower arrangements for entrance doors or flower pots. It was a variety of all kind of things and all of them with ‘Welcome’ on it in some way, be it ‘Welcome back’, ‘Welcome home’ or any other phrase including it. Yet, for now they paid it no further attention since they wanted to give shelter to Feitan and some place where he could rest, so they made their way into the garage itself.</p><p>In there, another surprise awaited them, comparable to outside, here as well the welcome things were piling high, but they also found two make-shift beds, made of some wadded fabrics and other soft material. With no owner in sight, they placed Feitan on one of the beds and decided on some people to keep guard and check the surroundings, but the area remained calm during the afternoon and early evening.</p><p>In the evening hours it was Chrollo’s turn to keep watch and he allowed himself a quick gaze above. Dawn was casting a broad spectrum of red and purple into the sky and a couple stars were slowly appearing against the increasing contrast of the darkening nightsky as proof of their near-perpetual existence. He breathed in the air and was still in awe at how clean it smelled everywhere in the city.<br/>
From a distance he heard a low metallic clattering, accompanied by two set of footsteps, approaching and bringing with them an increased altitude in clattering. One set of footsteps had a slightly longer rhythm than the other one, he assumed it was an adult and a child. Chrollo nodded to Nobunaga on the other side of the backyard and this one hushed into the garage to inform the others, while Chrollo ducked into the shadows to keep his presence hidden in case these two persons aimed at the backyard. The clattering was now getting closer and closer when one of the persons spoke up with a slightly annoyed undertone<br/>
“Seriously, Kortopi, can you carry these things even louder?” A female’s voice.<br/>
The other person, Kortopi apparently, responded “Whose idea was that anyway? With my short arms I can’t carry many things, but you insisted we take all this with us”, then the voice added in somewhat annoyed tune "as if we wouldn't have enough of these already anyway".<br/>
A moment of silence followed, the two stopping their march.<br/>
The female’s voice spoke up again “Hm, I guess you’re right. It was my idea. Carry it silent anyway!” with that, at least one set of footsteps progressed. </p><p>“Koooortopi, are you coming or not?” called the girl and only grumbling could be recognized from the addressed person, nevertheless that person also continued.<br/>
The chattering came closer and as Chrollo expected, they beelined into the backyard. He held his breath, what kind of people would these be?<br/>
The woman came in sight first, she had a slender figure and was around Machi’s height. Her hair was on chin length and raven-black, same as her clothes. The person who Chrollo assumed to be a child, had agate grey hair reaching somewhat further than his chin and some sort of a turquoise tunic. The most remarkable about that person was his large, round eye, peeking from out of his mass of hair.</p><p>The woman must have recognized Chrollo’s presence and sat her eyes on him<br/>
“Kortopi, we have a visitor” on which the other one pointed to Nobunaga, who had emerged from the garage </p><p>“Make that two, Shizuku”.</p><p>“I wonder what they want here? If you took a liking to a specific thing, we can arrange for a trade” with that the woman called Shizuku placed her souvenirs onto a nearby pile and grabbed some from out of Kortopi’s arms </p><p>“For example this one here and that one here, we’re selling for 120 Jenny” she remarked and turned the two things into various directions to be admired.</p><p>The smaller one added “120 Jenny isn’t exactly much for two things”.</p><p>The woman tilted her head slightly upwards and put her index finger on her chin, thinking<br/>
“Ok, then how about this, we add this here too and then it will be 20.000 Jenny” said Shizuku while grabbing a random object from atop of the pile.</p><p>“Ehhhh???” the voices of Kortopi, Chrollo and Nobunaga made in unison. </p><p>“That’s rip-off, from 120 to 20.000 just because one small doormat was added. The doormat is never worth 19.880 Jenny” mentioned Nobunaga, still heavily in disbelief.</p><p>Shizuku blinked at him confusedly “I never said the doormat costs 19.880.”</p><p>“If you would have sold 2 of these things for 120, then the doormat effectively costs 19.880 if three costs 20.000” reasoned Nobunaga.</p><p>“Really? You would then get 3 things instead of just 2. It’s a good deal. But I don’t favor money that much anyway. If you want some of these, then just take it. There’s still plenty in this town” shrugged Shizuku.</p><p>Picking up one of the items, Chrollo questioned the two why they all contained references to ‘Welcome’, whether it was their liking or anything related.</p><p>The woman replied “You see, the people here in York New are all so kind, they place these things outside of their home for us to take them”.</p><p>Chrollo rose an eyebrow, obviously confused. “I rather expected York New to be very different from Meteor, but this I find surprising. Over there in Meeor, we have certain areas where everyone knows that these things are not owned and everyone’s free to take them, but if you place them close around the hut you live in, no one takes them without asking for a trade. It’s quite extraordinary, that the people here place it outside to be taken away.”</p><p>“Well yes, but only these things with ‘Welcome’ can be taken, because, you see, ‘You’re Welcome’ or ‘Welcome’ itself, means that it’s ok, not to mention and that people are happy that you’re there. So basically, ‘Welcome’ is an indicator that people want to say that you can take it”. Shizuku explained on which Kortopi just shrugged.<br/>
Nobunaga and Chrollo exchanged confused gazes. They obviously found two remarkably odd magpies and Chrollo felt he may want to recruit them.</p>
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<a name="section0007"><h2>7. Learning to take</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>This chapter is a gift to SeparationBoundary who has given me the wonderful inspiration of wife-material Chrollo :D.</p><p>Enjoy :)</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The remaining Troupe members had stayed close to Feitan, eagerly straining their ears to get some of the conversation happening outside. So far the voices remained low and no sign of a fight was perceived. Nevertheless they would stay close to Feitan and if needed, protect him with all they had.</p><p>Machi slowly tiptoed to the door and leaned her ear against it, to get a better overview of what went on, to confirm her hunch, that these two strangers were not in fact out for a fight. She shortly nodded to the others and slowly opened the door only far enough to peek outside. Four set of eyes immediately took notice of her and Chrollo broached, explaining that there were more of them<br/>
“We’re currently nine, including me. I’m afraid we took shelter in your place, I hope you can bear with us at least for tonight”.</p><p>Kortopi moved up to him and stretched his hand towards Chrollo, who took it.<br/>
“I can’t speak for Shizuku, but seeing that you somehow found your way into here means we might not be that different. Feel free to stay. I’m Kortopi by the way and this is Shizuku, but I guess you already know that”.</p><p>Chrollo nodded “Pleased to meet you two, and thank you for sharing your hideout. This here is Nobunaga, over there is Machi and I am Chrollo. The other comrades are inside, I’ll introduce you in a short while”.<br/>
On that note the four made their way inside the garage, still under the cautious eyes of Machi.<br/>
Chrollo introduced them one by one, inwardly estimating for each whether they felt comfortable to spend the night in the garage along with the two former inhabitants.<br/>
When the introduction round was done, Kortopi piped up<br/>
“There are quite many indeed! Shizuku, do you still have some blankets or any other soft fabric we could use within your Blinky?”</p><p>Once more, Shizuku moved her head slightly upwards, thinking loudly <br/>
“Ahhh, I don’t think so, but that reminds me I still got some gathered stuff from the city. Blinky, bring all the things from today outside, yes?”.<br/>
Suddenly the Troupe was confronted with a vacuum cleaner, which had appeared out of basically nowhere. Its orifice was shaped like a mouth, a large tongue hanging outside as several objects were vomited up. Kortopi saw their expression and started to laugh heartily.<br/>
“I guess you did not come across many Nen users, but I have to agree, Shizuku’s nen skill is always a pleasure to watch. Come to think of it, I could actually provide some more blankets myself, if only for a short while. Let me quickly work on that” and he then sat down next to the make shift bed and produced 9 exact copies of them, crowding the garage with blankets.</p><p>The Troupe members could only blink in awe at what they had seen within just the last couple minutes. First came a vacuum cleaner, which worked like a reverse black hole, then Kortopi who produced copies of the beds, just by touching one of them and making the copy appear below his other hand. Phinks gulped. Their Nen felt so different in comparison to the Nen blast he had been confronted with by Sadaso. Their Nen was warm and soothing, nevertheless mysterious and fascinating.<br/>
Shizuku leaned on the duct of her vacuum cleaner.<br/>
“This one here is Blinky. With it I can absorb defined objects and eject them again whenever I say so. I cannot absorb living things, though. There are still boundaries to my ability and currently also the capacity I can absorb is limited”.<br/>
Kortopi followed up by explaining about his Gallery Fake ability and the Troupe members couldn’t be happier. Par coincidence they had found two Nen users, who were friendly despite having weird ideas about all the gathered ‘Welcome’ objects. Had they finally found a chance to learn Nen themselves?</p><p>They were talking for hours and hours still, with Feitan growing more annoyed with every minute. He wanted to sleep and they were so noisy. He grabbed a pillow and threw it on Nobunaga, who glared at him.<br/>
“What was that for, Feitan and why me?”<br/>
Feitan snickered “Make me cheer up when you mad”. </p><p>He only received a grunt from Nobunaga and an easily dodgeable pillow thrown at him in return. He then assumed they would still babble on and on and some fresh air might clear his tiredness. It was not that he wasn’t interested in learning more about the two fellows and their skill, he was just so exhausted from the day. Soon after, he breathed in the cooling night air, indeed clearing away some of his tiredness. The moon was in full bloom tonight, casting its ghostly glow into the backyard. When he heard footsteps, crunching on the pebble lain ground, he turned his head to meet his friend Phinks and felt strong arms wrap around him, holding him. Phinks rested his head on Feitan’s, breathing in his scent and ruffling through his hair softly every time he breathed out. Feitan didn’t say anything, didn’t move and just enjoyed the feeling of being all wrapped up in his friend’s arms and relying on his strength for once to keep them both up. He was not overly fond of being touched, but Phinks was different. Phinks was Phinks. His Phinks. They stood there for a while, both silently gazing at the nightsky.</p><p>“I should’ve been there for you, shouldn’t have left you alone. I can’t possibly say how sorry I am, Fei”. Phinks whispered into Feitan’s ears. This was meant only for the little Spider and for no one else.<br/>
Feitan thought, that for a moment he felt some dampness in his hair and he grabbed Phinks’ arms with his hands, drawing him even tighter around his little form.</p><p>“I told you knock on other doors, go find Nen users, told you go away. Not Phinks’ fault, baka” he mumbled into his scarf.</p><p>They stood there, just holding each other in silence. They held themselves until the conversation in the garage had finally quieted down somewhat and first snoring sounds were to be heard and they held on still until even the softest mumbles and whispers had died down.</p><p>***</p><p>The next morning Chrollo woke up to a most pleasurable sight. All of his Troupe members and the two they met yesterday were huddled together, arms thrown over backs, legs crossing legs. He chuckled, it was like a giant heap of humans, with occasional snoring in between.<br/>
Yesterday night, they also had discussed the concept of Nen and whether Shizuku and Kortopi were willing to teach them and they had agreed to start the next morning. As a lookout they had already explained the different types of Nen users and everyone had done guesses on which type they would be and which skill they would like to learn. There were so many possibilities, he couldn’t decide yet on what skill he wanted to develop. Which one would be benefitting to him, which goal did he want to achieve? He felt like he wanted to get all the skills he possibly could get his hands on, but Shizuku had mentioned that the majority of persons specialized only in one skill or skill direction rather, so learning a variety of skills would not be an easy task.<br/>
With his Troupe still dozing, he figured he’d take a walk around town and organize some breakfast and coffee. They still did not have much money, but Shizuku and Kortopi had told him that they picked some things from the stores or markets, shrugging it off with the statement that no one has complained or minded it yet. He still felt reluctant, wasn’t it theft? But it was for their survival, right? The merchants had plenty of food and taking some small amount away from them here and there would not hurt.</p><p>He strolled through town and across the market stalls. He had first grabbed a shopping basket from a straw basket maker to have space for all the ‘shopping’ he planned to do. Taking the basket had been fairly easy he realized but now he felt silly. He must look ridiculous with his black on black clothes, cross tattoo, and a … straw basket. Like come on, as if he would be a housewife performing a happy little Sunday morning shopping stroll? He greeted a female passerby who had given him an amused gaze, obviously with the same thought in mind, but who now hurried off with a blushing face. He walked around some more on the market, grabbing some bread here and there, some fruit, some cheese. Organizing some coffee would be a challenge, but he soon found his solution at a nearby café. The waitress was just carrying a large thermos can to serve those who would like to order a cup of coffee. More of these thermos cans were waiting on a nearby tea-cart. Ready to be taken away, thought Chrollo. He hoped these would all contain coffee as he could currently not well check the content and he proceeded to grab the nearest one to put in his basket.</p><p>On his way back he passed a bookstore and suddenly it dawned on him, which ability he wanted. Already in the short time on the market, he felt he had gotten used to taking the things he wanted and he also wanted as many Nen skills as possible. So a collection of skills in one book, a skill collector’s edition basically. This would be his goal!</p><p>When he returned to their hideout, the others were already somewhat awake. Shalnark was curiously rummaging through the goods in the backyard along with Kortopi, to see what was there and what was actually useful, the others sat around, still wiping the tiredness out of their eyes. The coffee Chrollo had brought was taken with gratitude and also the breakfast soon found its way into all their stomachs. The Nen training they would receive would get tough, so the rich nutrition would be benefitting.</p>
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<a name="section0008"><h2>8. The aftermath</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Woot woot, here's chapter 8.</p><p>I hope you enjoy reading and thank you for being here &lt;3</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The coming days and weeks were spent with Nen training but they found that all of them were rather quick studies when it came to using their internal energy and each day they made good progress. The backyard had become their arena, further honing their skills in combat like situations. It was their game and enjoyment throughout the days.</p><p>The fighting itself as well as the loud gun fire coming from Franklin had however, not only took its toll on the surrounding walls, which were now marked with large slashes, broken brickstones and occasionally more holes than a Swiss cheese. No, it had also drawn attention from the public to their little backyard. They had the impression that they were being observed from time to time, but as long as the observation bore no threat, they chose to ignore it without further investigating on it. Nevertheless they established nightshift guards just in case.</p><p>One sudden afternoon a squad of policemen stormed into the backyard, heavily armed and opened the fire at sight. The Troupe had been prepared, the fight was short. For most of them it was however their first encounter with a passing they had caused themselves, even so it would have been either the squad or the Troupe members themselves, who would have suffered it. Death had been inevitable in this situation, yet it bore heavily on them.<br/>Neither of them spoke much on that day, each of them lost in their own thoughts, each caught in their process to cope what had transpired. They had given the policemen their last resting place in the backyard. Six graves amidst all the pile of ‘Welcome’ things offered a bizarre and grotesque image, as if someone would have picked up a horror movie DVD and wrongly placed it in the cover of a children’s movie.</p><p>Machi had brought some flowers, which she now placed on the ground as a silent good bye and stared at the image for a while, lost in her thought. Omokage had acted out of revenge and they had all been able to somehow make peace with this passing. Feitan had to act out of self-defense, just like them now and how must he have felt back then? Only a couple days ago they had been so busy with getting out of the building that day and to get them all to safety and to check on Feitan’s physical injuries, that what must have transpired in the Heaven’s arena apartment had become an afterthought of sorts. She knew that Phinks and Feitan had spent some time together, had probably talked a bit over it, but still, the aftermath of what they now all felt, he must have experienced as well in a way.</p><p>She was calling herself back to reality and took in the Troupe. Feitan was reading, leaning his back against Phinks, who had rested his arms on his chins, searching the floor for some answers it could not give. A cigarette in his grip was burning down rather unattended. Shalnark had pulled Kortopi close, seeking warmth and closeness. They all huddled together in a way. The group of people which contained not only people who shared the same hometown, but people who had become comrades, friends, sparring partners and some of them perhaps even lovers, having found their hidden love in the group. The latter was just a hunch of her though, but who knew for sure. The past had shown that her hunches had almost never been wrong. Still she somehow felt lost, this day had seemed to mark them all, something in them changing and she was not sure if it was for better or worse. Only time would tell.</p><p>Chrollo had proven to be an exceptional leader throughout the coming days. He seemed to know exactly what each of them needed to remove mental hurdles they seemed to struggle on, to get them out of the dark holes in which they had sat in and to motivate them. All with the utmost sense of decency towards each of them, not pushing anyone on anything and they adored him for it. He had not only cared for them back in Meteor, he also cared for them here, for their well-being. They all knew about how replaceable each of them were, not only them, as legs, but also Chrollo, as head, but because it had never been a secret, they willingly accepted it. If what had transpired and what may transpire in the future meant they could still protect what the Spider stood for, then it would be worth it, it would all make sense in the end. This was just the way they had become, this was the Spider. Yet, Chrollo knew, they needed a defined goal for them not to lose their refound passion. They had left Meteor in aims of learning Nen and to ultimately pay revenge on the issued murder. They had succeeded on the first item and now needed a perspective on how to gather some intel on who was responsible for Retz. They could not just waltz up to Kukuroo Mountain going like ‘Hey, what’s up, tell us about your clients’. They could of course, if they had a death wish, but not until they had other options and despite, even if they would survive until they faced one of the Zoldycks, who may have information on the family’s jobs, who knew if they would provide them with the desired info? It all provided too many uncertainties, too many If’s to risk anything.<br/>Chrollo sunk down on some nearby stone, resting his chin in his hands. The shift in posture, made a small round metallic pocket watch press against his thigh, as if pointing out that it was still there. He pulled it out and stared at it in utmost wonder, the option he had been looking for, had suddenly become so clear in front of his eyes. It was like both Omokage and Retz had given him that hint, speaking out in unison.</p><p>“Wisteria”.</p><p>Uvogin eyed Chrollo “What about that dank place Wisteria?”</p><p>Chrollo was torn from his thought. <br/>“Ah, did I speak that out aloud? Wisteria is the place we go. There we will find our answers. Wisteria is the place Retz was apparently most hated at, leading to her shunning in the end. The people in Wisteria also have enough money to spare, so paying a high sum to an assassins’ family would also not prove to be a big challenge. So I’m highly guessing it was them who issued the job. I feel almost imbecile that I did not take that into consideration earlier”.</p><p>A loud crash resonated through the whole backyard. Uvo’s unspoken answer, a fist rammed armdeep into the brickwall, was telling of his opinion about Wisterians. <br/>“Danchou, if it was them, then I swear, I’m not going to ask for permission to go on a rampage”.</p><p>Chrollo nodded to him. If they really should find their answer there, then there would be no holding back any of his Troupe members from going berserk and by god he didn’t have any intention of stopping them if they did.</p>
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<a name="section0009"><h2>9. Scarlet Eyes</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Some weeks later, the Troupe found themselves in front of the city Wisteria. It was placed amidst of lush greens, rich in trees and chirping animals. Somewhere off, a river snaked its way through the landscape and some small cottage houses seemed to be home to local farmers, cultivating wheats, corn and other staple food. What stood out of the serene picture was the roughly ten meter high iron wall, surrounding the whole of what was supposedly Wisteria. <br/>With the wall too high to climb the only way in, seemed to be the official way through the double gated entrance, which was however locked. The gates’ design was intricate, tribal like lines interlacing throughout the whole surface, occasionally being interrupted by small holes or deeper trenches engraved in the iron. There was neither any handle on the doors, nor any obvious keyhole and the Troupe members just stood there, unsure of what to do.<br/>Uvogin stemmed his whole weight against it in an effort to press it open, but the doors did not even part one bit. But still, there was a gate, so there must be a way to open it, perhaps the gate was just a decoy and they actually entered through some other entrance? Chrollo thought and deemed it worth a try, called for his members to follow and they soon checked out the surroundings of the city wall.</p><p>Some hour must have passed without any further clue on how they could get inside, when they started to notice an airship arriving and it stopped midair right above the city. Smaller airships, like small hot-air balloons descended from the aircraft whereas others rose up from inside the walls. Was the only way on how to get in really just by air? Chrollo pondered and thought back on what Omokage had told him about the watch, that it would be required to get to Wisteria. Was the pocket watch some sort of beacon to call the hot-air balloons? He eyed the watch, trying out the little knobs to turn the clock hands, but to no avail as it appeared, the little balloons proceeded their way, none of them descending to pick them up.</p><p>Then suddenly Shalnark called out to him.</p><p>“Hey Danchou, look at this, the small circle here is about the same size as the clock. Can you give it to me for a second, please? The idea might be ridiculous, but Omokage mentioned you need the clock to get to Wisteria, so let’s try to push it into here.”</p><p>Chrollo moved over to Shalnark’s place and inspected the hole as well.</p><p>“You’re right, it is indeed the same size”. </p><p>On that note he grabbed hold of the chain of the watch and pushed the corpus inside.<br/>Turning the clock itself clockwise, a loud creaking sound rang out and the double doors parted to make way to Wisteria.</p><p>The Troupe was then presented with a large avenue lined with Wisteria Trees, their flowers hanging in streams of white-purpleish towards the ground, giving the image a magical charm. From towards the cobbled avenue several side roads led to the mansions of the inhabitants and the avenue itself finally concluded in the largest mansion, likely the residence of the mayor. The face of the buildings was pristinely white, lined with filigrane silver or gold paintings, glistening in the afternoon sun.</p><p>Machi was wondering how such a serene place could harbor so much ignorance towards family ties, how must growing up here must have been like?</p><p>“I bet they poop solid gold” grunted Uvogin, tearing Machi out of her thought and tickling some laughter from the group.</p><p>“So, how should we proceed, Danchou?” asked Kortopi.</p><p>Chrollo smiled, on their way here, both Shizuku and Kortopi had adapted his leader name and he was glad to have them around.</p><p>“Let’s search the residents and question them about Omokage’s and Retz’s family. We’ll split up in two teams and first will find their family members and secondly will find out about who was involved in issuing the job to the Zoldyck. Don’t do any reckless, but do everything which is deemed necessary”.</p><p>Soon after the Troupe had made their way towards the mansions, a figure hidden close to a nearby Wisteria tree dissolved his texture surprise.<br/>“Ahhh, so much potential, but not ripe. So, Omokage and Retz and supposedly an involvement of the Zoldycks, hm? Would be a shame if I couldn’t find something out about what you want and play a little with you on the way. So good &lt;3” licking his lips in anticipation, he trailed his ripening fruits, while text messaging a slender dark-eyed figure.</p><p>***</p><p>The town’s inhabitants had met their nemesis today. The ones who had known Omokage and Retz had cussed on them and the ones who hadn’t met them said these two apparently weren’t worthy of knowing them. When the Troupe was done, only view remained uninjured and breathing. The Ones who had had the wits of playing along with what the Phantom Troupe wanted to know.</p><p>The first group had already arrived back at their meeting place near the entrance door when Shizuku arrived along with her other team members. She carried a set of eyes, holding it over her own pair. The eyes were in two tubes, some liquid preserving them and they bobbed with each step Shizuku took, monitoring her footfall like wiggle eyes.</p><p>“Look what I found in one of the mansions. They are so pretty so I had to take them. While Feitan was working on him, the owner said they are Kurta Eyes”.</p><p>Chrollo took one gaze at them and was in awe. The irises catching the sunrays and casting back a glow of color he hadn’t seen before in such intensity. In an instance he knew he wanted more of these Scarlet eyes. What other fascinating things must hide in these snobs’ houses?<br/>After the two groups had exchanged more of what they had learned and seen from the Wisterians Chrollo concluded.</p><p>“From what you told me and from what we saw ourselves in the other group, Retz and Omokage weren’t that well included in this society, but as it appears none of them knew about the misfortune that fell on them after they left Wisteria, so likely they are not the job issuer. From a point of information gathering, we will have to return to Point Zero again in a way, but at least we will gather all valuables here. We’ll loot as much as we may carry. Shizuku, I hope I can count on you?” asked the leader.</p><p>“How? Oh, that’s right… Blinky! Yes, absolutely” she answered, while handing the Scarlet eyes to Chrollo. </p><p>***</p><p>The figure, again hidden in his ability observing the group, grinned to himself. Learning about most of their abilities during their little raid had been a divine pleasure to him and the longer he watched them, the more they turned him on, especially their leader, Chrollo, or Danchou as they usually called him. <br/>‘Oya, oya, it looks like that black haired girl just opened the box of Pandora for a certain clan. But first I will have to find that Omokage. Off to Meteor to see if that guy is still there. Illumi’s such a reliable friend, I’ll have to thank him thoroughly next time I see him &lt;3’.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Well well well, the clown has entered the manege &lt;3</p><p>Character tags were updated.</p><p>Thank you for reading &lt;3</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0010"><h2>10. We want companions</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>This chapter gave me some struggles and a lot of thinking on how to bring it down to paper, but here it is, finally wohoooo.</p><p>Thank you for reading it, it makes me happy you're still here with me &lt;3</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Their bags full with all kinds of valuables the Troupe had left Wisteria and took a short break in the lush greens around the city walls.</p><p>“So, tell me Feitan, tell me everything you learned about these Scarlet eyes” Chrollo said towards the man who had made a name of himself today. The Troupe’s information gatherer, a detective with his very unique techniques.</p><p>“Did not know much, he bought on Auction, worth high price it appears. Is from Kurta.” Answered the Troupe’s torturer.</p><p>Shalnark added “I just checked it on the guy’s phone to do some research. Not a lot is known of the Kurta clan, they are more a mystery than a fact, but I found some info they might live in Lukso province”.</p><p>Chrollo took the phone from Shalnark and skimmed through the opened page. The info was vague but what did they have to lose when they’d set off to Lukso province? But first they'd sell their loot in the next larger city.</p><p>***</p><p>Some days later, in a different region of the world, far off from Wisteria, a red head sauntered through the run down city. His footsteps were kicking up the street’s dust while he followed the different clues he had gathered to find the one man he wanted to have a little chat with.<br/>Not long after, he knocked on the door of a small hut, only a fluent notion, while he already stepped into the dim room. The person he had been looking for was sitting at the desk, a puppet in his hands. Slowly, he lifted his gaze towards Hisoka and eyed him.</p><p>“Well, please come in”.</p><p>“Thank you &lt;3 I already let myself in”.</p><p>“I can see that” mumbled Omokage, returning to his puppet. He had found the doll on the outskirt, on one of the trash heaps all around and had decided to take it with him, to give it another life. Somehow he had become obsessed with it. Talked with it. If only it could give him answers.</p><p>“I want to play a game, Omokage. I’m looking for a playing partner” the clown said, while casually leaning on the table, his torso slightly in recline. He placed one of his cards onto the table, face down.</p><p>“I might have something you want, and you can help me come closer to my goal. It’s a win-win situation. Will you play with me?” cooed the clown.</p><p>Omokage put the doll down on the table again and shifted his position towards Hisoka. The latter knew he had his interest now and the games would begin.</p><p>“What is in it for me?” asked Omokage.</p><p>“May I?” asked Hisoka and took a hold of the doll, attaching his bungee gum to its limbs. Soon after, the doll was performing its dance on the table, swirling around gracefully, lively.</p><p>“This is in for you. I can help you create similar skills” added the clown and by the expression Omokage had on his face at the doll’s performance, he knew he’d eat out of his hand and agree, so the clown noted his own requirements.</p><p>“In exchange for the doll friends you could get by learning this skill, I want you to help me get access to a certain group. Introduce them to me &lt;3”</p><p>***</p><p>“Are you sure that this is the way to Lukso, Kortopi?” asked Pakunoda.</p><p>The smaller man had his head deep in the map.</p><p>“We’re here currently and we should reach it in 5 to 6 hours likely” said Kortopi, pointing at a location on the map.</p><p>“This seems to be the border of the province here, so who knows on where we’ll find that Kurta clan” added Phinks, eyeing the map as well now. He only saw a bunch of green forest area, sprinkled occasionally with some brown mountain structures and blue lines for rivers. He had no idea, how Kortopi was able to estimate the time or the heck knew where they were in this dense green area, but luckily he himself was not in charge of the guidance anyway and Kortopi looked like a guy with a plan. Literally.</p><p>“We should start at places near rivers or lakes. Is there any place like that on the map, Kortopi?” asked Chrollo.</p><p>“Yes, there are some here. In considering the area of Lukso, we need to cross this forest area first and we can directly aim to the river just here” said Kortopi, pointing on the destination on the map during his explanations.</p><p>“Alright, let’s go. The first to spot a Kurta wins the prize” cheered Shalnark.</p><p>It must have been an hour of walking through the thickening forest, when they heard the subtle melody. Clear as chiming bells, it resonated through the forest.</p><p>“We found Kurta clan?” wondered Feitan.</p><p>“Let’s check it out, be cautious” said Chrollo.</p><p>Slowly, they progressed towards where the music came from, the tunes getting louder, but they did not come far. A skinny person, strewn with holes of various size blocked their way.</p><p>“We heard the cacophony in the tunes’ echo and knew someone was approaching. Tell us what you want and why you are here or be prepared to die”.</p><p>Feitan cussed “You talk big, Kurta”</p><p>“I don’t feel he’s a Kurta, Fei” muttered Shalnark, but all reasoning was at vain and left unheard.</p><p>The Troupe’s torturer and the mysterious man were already up close, staring at each other menacingly. Nen and Energy source flaring up.</p><p>The man cussed back “I have no idea what you mean with Kurta, but the way you say it, I feel it is an insult and I am not letting this pass”.</p><p>“Can you two please calm down? It was just a misunderstanding” asked Pakunoda.</p><p>Another member of the tribe came over, wondering what was going on and Chrollo started to explain. How they were looking for the Kurta clan and how they had heard the music and got interested. Though, he did leave out the not so small detail that they were merely looking for the Kurta clan for their Scarlet eyes. </p><p>The explanations seemed to calm down both, Feitan and the man, who had by now introduced himself as Bonolenov Ndongo. </p><p>“Can call you Bones, not much on you anyway” snickered Feitan.</p><p>“As if you half portion sized guy would be better. Do you need an extra step to sit onto a stool?” returned Bonolenov teasingly and received another short lived Nen flare from Feitan.</p><p>“You watch it! I not small”</p><p>The other group members just shrugged. However way these two had bonded, at least they were not quarreling in menacing manner anymore.</p><p>***</p><p>What had started as a short encounter had turned into a full three days at the Gyudondond Tribe and had ended up with Bonolenov joining them. Initially just through an excuse to his Tribe to be guiding the Troupe through the thick forests, but everyone knew that Bono would not return to his Tribe. He had found a new family and would set out to experience new sceneries and adventures.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Accordingly, the character tags are updated :-)</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0011"><h2>11. A clown who takes away the laughter</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Welcome reader, to a new chapter &lt;3<br/>I hope you enjoy reading it :3</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>In the end, the Troupe had found the Kurta clan and the flood of Scarlet Eyes appearing on the Black Market soon after, had given them both an infamous reputation as well as a heavy grudge and bad blood from the side of the Mafia. With how they flooded the Black Market, they had ruined prices for the Eyes and this did not sit well with the Mafia Bosses. The Troupe had laughed it off, who cared about the Mafia Bosses, Chrollo seemed to have taken a liking to piss them off.</p><p>With the money they had earned from the sale of the Eyes, they planned to return to Meteor and to spread it to the ones who needed it more than them. They knew the struggles and they would only keep that much money as they’d need for themselves. Returning to Meteor would also be a nice opportunity to check up on Omokage. They all worried for him and hoped his mental state had improved over the time.<br/>Arriving back in Meteor, they found their hopes to be justified. Omokage appeared energized when he saw them, as if some new energy was driving him forward.</p><p>“My friends!” he stated, arms spread wide to welcome them.</p><p>Shalnark moved in for a close hug <br/>“Man, we missed you. You look a lot better than last time”.</p><p>“Thank you, thank you. You also brought more people?”</p><p>“These are Shizuku, Kortopi and Bonolenov. We met them on our journey” explained Chrollo.</p><p>“There’s so much to talk about. We’ve been to Wisteria….” Pakunoda started and trailed off.</p><p>“Ah” Omokage nodded and added after a short pondering “How was it?”</p><p>“Apart from these people being hideous? Well, I guess they did not like us” Franklin asked.</p><p>“Why not move this conversation indoors?” suggested Chrollo, motioning them all inside.</p><p>Omokage had taken it surprisingly calm, that Wisteria had been rendered a near ghost town and Machi exchanged gazes with Shizuku. They both felt something must be off with him. Even if you left your city in the terms Omokage and Retz had done and to hold a grudge against your family, to take it that calm, that they were gone?<br/>Omokage must have felt the worry and turned towards the two women.</p><p>“Do not worry, I am alright. You all are my family and I’ve decided I would join you when the day comes we’d meet again.”</p><p>“Want tattoos to show we one group? Like to have one, and I good in giving them” Feitan asked.</p><p>“Do we need painkillers if you make them?” Phinks asked.</p><p>“You pussy? Then you need” snickered Feitan and was greeted with a hit on the head by the blonde.</p><p>“What happens if one of us dies through any kind of reason?” asked Omokage</p><p>“The member will be replaced. If one of us, this includes me, dies by the hand of another then this person is offered the vacant place in the Troupe. If one dies through ways which cannot be traced to a single person, for example a natural death or an accident, then I will be responsible of announcing a new member. We all are replaceable and the survival of the Spider holds utmost priority. If one gets beaten then a replacement helps the Spider getting stronger. This may sound cruel, but this is our way. If someone does not like it, that person is free to leave now” responded Chrollo eyeing is Troupe and they all nodded. None of them left. <br/>The motley troupe was now complete, twelve members and one head and soon they all had a spider tattoo with their numbers.</p><p> </p><p>*** (Timeskip to 5 years later, the year the Yorknew Auction is taking place)</p><p>After Omokage had joined them 5 years ago in Meteor City, they had spent the first year together, heightening their infamous reputation through several heists and further honing their Nen skills through various fights.<br/>They then had split up to sharpen their skills further. Bonolenov had visited his Tribe again, Shizuku and Kortopi had some tasks in their respective hometowns, the others commuted between regions, wandering or taking on some further missions. In Meteor City they weren’t that welcome anymore figuring how they had regularly pissed off the Mafia and in that sense went against the connection between the Meteor Elders and the Mafia Bosses.</p><p>Roughly a year later they met up shortly again at the Heaven’s Arena. Chrollo had been crowned floormaster and his ‘Bandit’s Secret’ was overflowing. In a way the location was perfect for him. He gained access to a lot of Nen skills, which he could casually steal and the Arena offered him some handy connections and information as well. The heist they planned as celebration brought them the Royal Crown and Scepter of the Old Empire Wireme, which had been on display in the local history museum. After they had sated themselves on some roleplay in their hideout, they had sold it off on the Black Market and each of them went separate ways again.</p><p>After another three years they had received message from Chrollo that they’d be meeting up again soon in YorkNew. Unfortunately, the message also brought with it, that Omokage had been beaten and replaced by Hisoka. He was a self-announced Magician who also got himself involved in the Heaven’s Arena but had made himself a reputation of not showing up to most fights there. Machi, who had met him through some Nen-stitching assignment already, had been given the task to inform the new guy about their meeting time and location.</p><p>It was already long past their set time, when the Magician finally graced them with his appearance, casually sauntering into the old church they resided in.</p><p>“Ready to start the party?” he cooed.</p><p>“You bastard. First Omokage and then you have the guts to appear late” growled Uvogin, balling his fists and walking towards Hisoka.</p><p>“Uvo, remember, no fighting in between the Troupe. I’m not happy with how it went either and the delay in arriving, but it is as it is now. It’s our rules. Danchou, we’re complete now” cheered Shalnark.</p><p>“What are we going to steal, Danchou?” roared Uvogin, already forgetting about Hisoka and focusing completely on their Leader and the to be given tasks.</p><p>“The YorkNew Auction. We will take away all of the Auction goods” smiled Chrollo.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>The Troupe is complete and already found some new changes in the rank :o</p><p>Next chapter will cover the Auction heist and some more ;-)<br/>However, I'll already let you know that the Auction happenings itself will not receive that much screentime so to speak, as it would be more of a retelling of the Anime plotline and I would like to avoid that because it's nothing new for you. So I'll pick out only some of the parts, which are required for the big showdown. :o :)<br/>I might add another chapter increasing it to 14. Will have to see how it goes :)</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0012"><h2>12. The puppeteer</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Second to last chapter, woot.<br/>I'm sorry this came so late into the weekend. I....distracted myself a lot with gaming... shame on me.<br/>Anyway, I now (proudly) present you the new chapter *throws confetti*</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The plan for the Auction would have been perfect. Chrollo had decided for a couple of the Troupe members to arrive in a hot air balloon and to enter the building from the roof top. Machi and Shalnark would work their way down to the storage rooms to get a hand on the Auction goods, Uvogin and Nobunaga would stand guard around the entrance area and Franklin, Feitan and Shizuku would create a ruckus in the Auction hall itself.</p>
<p>However, as they later reported to Chrollo only part of the plan was successful. The storage room had been emptied already when Shalnark and Machi arrived. Somehow the Mafia must have had intel and the talk about a Judas figure within the Phantom Troupe arose.</p>
<p>“Uvogin, Judas sold his friend for money, he valued this more than their friendship. Do you really think anyone of us would care enough about wealth or reputation to sell us out? Each of us may have different reasons for staying in the Troupe, but I am fairly certain none of us is a traitor” reasoned Chrollo.<br/>
Hisoka, who had stayed in the old building in hopes he would be alone with their Leader, listened to the phone call and supressed a moan. Their Danchou was divine and he could not wait to fight him. The desire followed him into his dreams. He casually flipped his Joker card into the air. He’d get his chance. Thanks to Omokage he was already close.</p>
<p>The involvement of the Phantom Troupe with the York New Auction had led the Mafia to contact Assassins, among whom were even two members of the Zoldyck family. Silva and Zeno Zoldyck. After Zigg had died five years ago, now the two oldest in the family. They all had been tasked to hunt down the Phantom Troupe. Since the Auction had been rescheduled to this very day, everyone was sure the Troupe would show up again for another attempt to steal the goods. In only a couple of days in September so much had happened. The Mafia had lost many of their members, high ranks and so many infantry during the last encounter with the Troupe and the current Auction attendees felt queasy and nervous. On the other hand, the Phantom Troupe mourned for Uvogin, whom they had lost to an unknown chain user and Chrollo had given the order to both wrack havoc on the new Auction location and to gather information on the chain user.</p>
<p>On the evening of the Auction day, the building was indeed a battlefield and surrounded by a crescendo of carnage, a requiem for their lost friend, visually conducted by Chrollo, high up on the top floor of the Auction building. He had eliminated nearly all of the hired bounty hunters. Only few, including the Zoldycks, remained and he would meet them. He would use this opportunity to both question them about the fateful issued job, for which he would get his answers, come what may and if he were lucky he could also steal one or even both their abilities. The banquet hall would be a suitable place for this feast, he thought to himself and motioned there.</p>
<p>***</p>
<p>When they safely had returned back to their hideout later in the night, Chrollo told them what he had learned during the Auction, that he had been lucky that Illumi had had such a good timing in informing Silva about the finished job on the ten Dons. This had cleared the job issue, Silva and Zeno had received from the Dons to eradicate the Phantom Troupe and Silva had given in and told Chrollo everything about the job, so many years ago.</p>
<p>Shalnark gulped “This can’t be true…”</p>
<p>“So, Omokage was a traitor?” asked Nobunaga, more to himself than to Chrollo or anyone.</p>
<p>Chrollo nodded sadly. On hindsight everything Omokage had told him back in Meteor made sense. How he had been so certain that they would meet again and that he had nearly begged with Chrollo to bring down everyone involved.</p>
<p>
  <i>‘Keep it safe for me and one day pay me the deserved price and pass judgement on anyone involved in the misery. If I say anyone, I mean it!’<i></i></i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>“It appears yes. But I guess the mission is done, seeing how you, Hisoka, already took care of Omokage to join our ranks” Chrollo concluded.</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>“Oya, oya. I must have done a good job then. Even so, watching you take revenge for someone is a very pleasant sight” mused Hisoka.</i>
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</p>
<p>
  <i>
    
  </i>
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  <i>
    <i>As the tango with the chain user continued in Yorknew, they lost another member, Pakunoda, who had died in the wish that the chain of events would cease with her. That she could turn all hidden cards with her memory bomb and to ensure the remaining Troupe members knew what had happened at the airport. That Chrollo lived, but could not contact the Troupe for the chain in his heart. That Hisoka had showed up and that he was not a true member of the Troupe. That Chrollo and Hisoka had talked about what had brought Hisoka to the Troupe.</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>
      <i>Flashback<i>
‘Ahhh Chrollo, let’s fight. This here, I don’t need anymore, so it won’t be a fight in between members’. Hisoka said, while removing his texture surprise tattoo from his back.</i>
    </i>
  </i>
</i></p>
<p>
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    <i>
      <i>‘Interesting. I always felt there was something off with you. You could have just asked for a fight before joining the Troupe. With b******* like you, I don’t mind the fight, you did not have to kill Omokage for it. Unfortunately I cannot use my Nen abilities right now, so we may fight, but I assume you would find that intensely boring’ replied Chrollo, while a soft wind ruffled through his collar fur.</i>
    </i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>
      <i>Hisoka had been utterly shellshocked for a second. He had been waiting for this very moment so long, had meticulously planned on how he could sneak out of their hideout only to be met with such a let-down. After a while, he sighed.</i>
    </i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>
      <i>‘Well, in order to ensure you remain as eager on the fight as me, I will let you in on a small detail, which is both a gift for you and some addition on how you already feel about me. First) You are still capable of achieving your revenge on Omokage. Second) As you may have figured from the first point, Omokage and I conspired to achieve each other’s goals. He wanted a chance in getting puppet figures of you and I wanted to get closer to you to fight you. The ‘death’ of Omokage for the exchange of members was too easy’ cooed Hisoka.

<i>Flashback end<i></i></i>
    </i>
  </i>
</i></p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>
      <i>
        <i>The Nen auras or the remaining Troupe roared when they learned about it all through the Memory bomb and Nobunaga spat “Our goal has not changed. We will eliminate anyone who was involved in issueing the job on Retz. My friends, the hunting season is officially opened. Bring me both Omokage’s and Hisoka’s heads and the one of the chain dude as well”.</i>
      </i>
    </i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>
      <i>
        <i>“These a******* have to pay” growled Phinks.</i>
      </i>
    </i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>
      <i>
        <i>***</i>
      </i>
    </i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>
      <i>
        <i>While a couple of the Troupe members aimed at assisting Chrollo get his Nen skills back, the others were on the lookout for Omokage and the chain dude.<br/>
Some weeks later they would be lucky. Once more they collided with Gon and Killua who they had met at the YorkNew Auction and Nobunaga saved them from the puppet of Uvogin. Nobunaga felt a knot in the throat as he had to fight Uvogin. The only comfort he found in this was that this was not his Uvogin anymore. It was a mere puppet, created by Omokage. The puppet had been given voice and emotion through the eyes, Omokage must have stolen from Uvo’s corpse. Uvogin would not have wanted that, still slicing his friend brought the bile up for the Samurai.</i>
      </i>
    </i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>
      <i>
        <i>A couple days later, they also found the mansion, Omokage spent in. They had followed the traces of Gon and Killua and heard the fighting noises indoors. Right when they wanted to crash the party and eradicate them all, a soft voice stopped them.</i>
      </i>
    </i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>
      <i>
        <i>“My friends. I have so wished to see you again, for such a long time, but I was not able to stroll far from my brother. I was so happy when I felt your Nen auras” said Retz.</i>
      </i>
    </i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>
      <i>
        <i>“Retz, is this really you?” Nobunaga asked stupefied.</i>
      </i>
    </i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>
      <i>
        <i>“Ah, so this is the Retz girl, ya were talking about” added Bonolenov.</i>
      </i>
    </i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>
      <i>
        <i>Feitan drew his sword. “How can we sure is not fake? You died,”</i>
      </i>
    </i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>
      <i>
        <i>“You are right, Feitan, I…I died. I am only a puppet and ever since he created me, my brother is obsessed with finding the perfect eyes for me, I live through the eyes he gives me, but all of these are not my own life. This one has ended back there in Meteor. Yet, the lives I’ve been given brought me some more friends. They are inside currently, fighting my brother.” Uttered Retz with a saddened voice.</i>
      </i>
    </i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>
      <i>
        <i>“Well, we have a vendetta against them, so we’ll barge in now” growled Nobunaga.</i>
      </i>
    </i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>
      <i>
        <i>“Don’t forget that we cannot kill the chain user because of the chain in the heart of our Danchou. Gon and Killua we can allow to live, I guess. They are Retz’s friends and as long as they won’t get involved further with our plan against the chain dude, this would be fine with me” reasoned Machi.<br/>
Retz shook her head.</i>
      </i>
    </i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>
      <i>
        <i>“Please don’t kill anyone, at least not today. Please let me be selfish and let me take care of this on my own. I feel that this is something I should have done long ago, my brother and I, in a way we both died back then in Meteor. I will bring it to an end today. I was the reason this whole madness started and I see it as my duty to end it now” stated Retz.</i>
      </i>
    </i>
  </i>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0013"><h2>13. Epilogue</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>The epilogue I now may present to you as well. Along with it I would like to speak out a heartfelt thank you that you accompanied the Troupe on this journey and supported me with kudos and comments. It is appreciated and I'm grateful to you all :).</p><p>Thank you for all your kindness &lt;3.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The man with the cross tattoo on his forehead was lightly moving in his rocking chair. His eyes were passing over the landscape in front of us, aiming the remainder of his story not to me specifically, perhaps not to himself either, he just let the words drift along the subtle afternoon breeze. </p><p>Throughout his story, I had got to know layer for layer of the character, who I called my grandfather. I had heard the stories about both Chrollo and the Troupe from so many different mouths and newspapers. A cacophony of people who thought they knew who Chrollo was, but in the end neither of them saw the whole picture. Perhaps my grandfather himself, had not yet found the essence of his life yet, it had ever been a motivator for him to understand why he was the way he was. But now I felt like the person in front of me started to seem whole, complete and content with himself, their story was told.</p><p>When he finished, he motioned his eyes to me, the wrinkles around his eyes and mouth lifting lightly, when he smiled at me. “Yes, my child, in the end Retz took care of it on her own. A true black widow. And all of the in between and after, this is how we became us”.</p><p>The End.</p>
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